A total of 15,464 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Friday, the Department of Health said, up by 888 from 14,576 the day before.

Tomorrow (April 20), marks the fourth week of the UK-wide lockdown - with Dominic Raab announcing earlier this week that the measures will e extended for at least another three weeks.

The Government has set out what needs to happen before it will consider lifting the measures, but there has been no detail on how the easing of restrictions will take place.

However, Tory backbenchers and former ministers say there needs to be "strategic clarity" and that the argument put forward by the Government about not wanting to "confuse the message" is not the right way forward.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government is not being more forthcoming about an exit strategy because Boris Johnson is absent, continuing his recovery at Chequers.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said that claim was "just wrong".

Support the NHS Heroes Help From Home campaign

What is the NHS Heroes campaign?

The NHS is the very best of us. We watch in awe as they work tirelessly to care for us during these unprecedented times. We’ve never relied on them more. We’ve never needed to thank them more and that's what our Help For Heroes initiative is about.

You can show how much you appreciate their efforts by sending them some love, on our Thanks A Million Map https://www.thanksamillionnhs.co.uk/ Simply add your message of support and send a heart to your postcode area. You can zoom around the map to see how many people from communities around Britain are supporting it, and read other messages. If you're a member of NHS staff you'll find a dedicated section of discounts and money-off deals, just for you, too.

But alongside appreciation, the NHS also needs our help - from PPE, to food to keep them going during shifts, medical supplies and more - money can make a big difference. So we have launched NHS Heroes Help From Home - a nationwide drive to raise funds for our NHS frontline, that everyone can get involved in.

How it works

Donate to NHS Heroes Help From Home from just £2

As a thank you, everyone who donates will be entered into the weekly NHS Heroes Raffle

Winners are announced every Thursday at 8:05pm.

If you’re a winner, choose to keep your prize or gift to an NHS hero of your choice

Funds raised are in aid of the NHS Charities COVID-19 Appeal, set up by NHS Charities Together. Donations will help take care of the immediate well-being of our NHS frontline heroes as well as provide essential longer-term mental health support .

94% of all donations will go to NHS Charities Together’s COVID-19 Appeal. The remaining 6% will cover the cost of payment processing fees.

If you have some information you can contact us by following our Twitter feed @northwaleslive - the official North Wales Live account - real news in real time.

Signing out

That’s all from me but we’ll be back at 7am tomorrow.

22:50Sarah Hodgson

Millions in extra funding for Welsh hospices after drastic drop in income during coronavirus crisis

Hospices in Wales will receive an extra £6.3m in funds to help provide essential care during the coronavirus pandemic. Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, announced the three-month package of additional support today. Hospices in Wales rely on fundraising to survive, and two thirds of hospices have reported a drastic drop in income due to the coronavirus lockdown regulations.

22:41Sarah Hodgson

Police could face 'more volatile and agitated society' after lockdown

Police should be ready to deal with a “more volatile and agitated society” after the UK’s lockdown measures are eased, according to an interview with a senior police officer.Chief Superintendent Paul Griffiths, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, told the Independent news site that economic difficulties can lead to a “rise in crime and disorder”.He told the site: “There are going to be people who are out of work, businesses that have not been able to sustain themselves, and the impact on society will start to come through.”Crime levels in England and Wales have fallen by more than a quarter during the pandemic, with a 28% decrease in the four weeks to April 12 compared to the same period last year.During the four weeks there has been a 37% reduction in police recorded burglary, a 27% drop in vehicle crime, serious assault and personal robbery while recorded rape offences have fallen 37%

22:23Sarah Hodgson

Fire service plea

The fire service are urging people to not put additional pressure on crews.

22:00Sarah Hodgson

Piers Morgan apologises to Lady Gaga over fundraising concert

Piers Morgan has issued an apology to Lady Gaga after the fundraising concert One World: Together At Home raised millions for the fight against coronavirus.Lady Gaga helped to curate the concert with the World Health Organization and Global Citizen which has gone on to raise hundreds of millions of pounds for the fight against the deadly virus, while also supporting frontline staff.Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan was initially sceptical of the concert and what it could achieve.

21:44Sarah Hodgson

Applause for police

How lovely!

21:01Sarah Hodgson

Five flights to repatriate hundreds standed

More than 1,500 Britons stranded in New Zealand will be repatriated on five charter flights beginning this week.Those most at risk from coronavirus, like those with existing health conditions, pregnant women, or the elderly, will be prioritised on three flights leaving Auckland and two from Christchurch, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.The first plane is expected to depart on Friday and flights will continue to run every second day, with alternating departures from Auckland and Christchurch, the FCO said.Services are being part-funded by the Government’s £75 million scheme to organise flights from countries where commercial services have been halted due to the pandemic.However tickets back from New Zealand will cost £800 per person. Travellers able to prove financial hardship may be able to get an emergency loan from public funds.FIVE FLIGHTS TO REPATRIATE HUNDREDS OF BRITONS STRANDED IN NEW ZEALAND

20:34Sarah Hodgson

Downing Street hit back at reports PM dragged his feet over outbreak

Downing Street has hit back at newspaper reports that Boris Johnson and his administration dragged their feet in the run-up to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.Number 10 accused the Sunday Times of “falsehoods” and “errors” after the newspaper published a piece in which a Whitehall source claimed the Government “missed the boat on testing and PPE” (personal protective equipment).The article also claimed the Johnson administration “just watched” as the death toll mounted in Wuhan, China.A Government spokesman said: “This article contains a series of falsehoods and errors and actively misrepresents the enormous amount of work which was going on in government at the earliest stages of the coronavirus outbreak.“This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it, guided at all times by the best scientific advice.“The Government has been working day and night to battle against coronavirus, delivering a strategy designed at all times to protect our NHS and save lives.“Our response has ensured that the NHS has been given all the support it needs to ensure everyone requiring treatment has received it, as well as providing protection to businesses and reassurance to workers.“The Prime Minister has been at the helm of the response to this, providing leadership during this hugely challenging period for the whole nation.”The tone of the statement, posted on the official gov.uk website, was much more aggressive than that used by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove on Sunday morning TV appearances when he described the article as “off beam”.Mr Gove had confirmed the Sunday Times report that the PM had not attended five meetings of the key Government committee Cobra in the run-up to the crisis, but insisted this was not unusual.That stance was echoed by the Government spokesman who said: “It is entirely normal and proper for Cobr to be chaired by the relevant secretary of state.“At this point the World Health Organisation had not declared Covid-19 a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’, and only did so only on January 30.“Indeed, they chose not to declare a PHEIC the day after the Cobr meeting.”

20:16Sarah Hodgson

Police break up more parties in North Wales as 'unacceptable' breaches of lockdown continue

Former Leeds owner tests positive

Former Leeds owner Massimo Cellino has revealed he and his daughter have tested positive for coronavirus.The 63-year-old now owns Serie A side Brescia, based in the region of Lombardy which has been one of the worst affected areas during the pandemic.However, Cellino maintains he contracted the deadly virus while travelling around Italy, even though a strict lockdown has been in place across the country for more than a month.He told La Repubblica: “I’ve been in Cagliari for a few days, after completing three weeks of quarantine in Brescia.“Then I spent Easter in Sardinia with my family, I took a private plane and I returned. After two weeks of quarantine in Cagliari I went to the hospital for checks.“It turned out that my daughter had the virus, my son didn’t have it. And that I have it.“I have excessive tiredness and severe pain in my bones. It is bad for the liver.”

19:57Sarah Hodgson

New York death toll drops

The daily coronavirus death toll in New York has dropped again, a sign the state is “on the other side of the plateau”, governor Andrew Cuomo has said.He said 507 people died on Saturday, down 43 from the previous day, showing social distancing practices are working to stem the spread of the virus.Other indicators are also heading in the right direction, the governor said, with the number of people entering hospitals with Covid-19 symptoms down by more than 750 to 16,213.Mr Cuomo and mayor Bill de Blasio maintained their warnings that people in New York City and the rest of the state need to stay vigilant to curb the spread of the virus.“We showed that we can control the beast and when you close down, you can actually slow that infection rate, but this is only half-time,” Mr Cuomo said on Sunday at a briefing.“We still have to make sure that we keep that beast under control, we keep that infection rate down, we keep that hospitalisation rate down as we all get very eager to get on with life and move on.”

19:14Sarah Hodgson

Two parties broken up

Officers were called out twice today.

19:03Sarah Hodgson

The 'window of opportunity' allowing dad to see his newborn baby despite coronavirus restrictions

A father who cannot see his newborn daughter due to the coronavirus says he can’t thank NHS staff enough for giving him “a window of opportunity”. Cuddles, the neonatal charity at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, are supplying families with iPads so that they can have unrestricted access to their children in critical care via Facetime. Paul and Sarah Stott gave birth to their daughter Iris on Monday, April 13, at WrexhamMaelor Hospital.

Warning as furlough application scheme opens

Those that don’t risk being seen as fraudulent, say London tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

Nimesh Shah said: “The Government and HMRC are very concerned about fraudulent JRS claims, and the rules and system have been designed to safeguard against this as far as possible. “

18:32Sarah Hodgson

Ending social distancing measures risks second wave of deaths

The UK risks a second wave of coronavirus deaths if social distancing warnings are not heeded, England’s deputy chief medical officer has warned.Dr Jenny Harries said the relatively low increase in hospital deaths - up 596 from 15,464 as of 5pm on Saturday - is “positive news”.But she cautioned against reading too much into the figures, saying they reflected the usual drop in cases confirmed at weekends.Asked during the daily Downing Street press briefing whether the UK is “past the peak” of coronavirus, Dr Harries said: “We could jump to all sorts of positive conclusions about that but we shouldn’t.“I do think it is fair to say that we do know from the hospital data that we are starting to plateau across.”She added: “If we don’t keep doing the social distancing, we will create a second peak and we definitely won’t be past it so this is no reason to consider that we have managed this.“But I do think things look to be heading in the right direction.”

Stickers promoting an anti-meat message have been found at a farm in Llanfairfechan, leaving farmers concerned that the campaigner is breaching lockdown rules.

One of the stickers features images of animal carcasses and carries the message: “Us farmers absolutely love our animals.”

Vegan Wizard stickers left on a farm in Llanfairfechan (Image: Gareth Wyn Jones)

18:02Sarah Hodgson

First patients discharged from NHS Nightingale London

The first patients have been discharged after being successfully treated at NHS Nightingale London, NHS England has said in a tweet.“We’re thrilled that the team at NHS Nightingale London have successfully treated and discharged their first coronavirus patients!“Thank you to all the brilliant clinicians and support staff working so hard to care for patients in the capital.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: “So proud that the brilliant NHS Nightingale London team have treated and discharged their first coronavirus patients.”

Five things that need to happen before schools can reopen

Schools ministers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will make their own decisions on when schools reopen across the UK.

Opening the briefing on Sunday Mr Williamson said: “These are challenging times for all of us and each of us has a role to play in fighting this virus.”

17:07Sarah Hodgson

Should teachers have PPE?

When asked whether teachers who are currently still working in schools needed PPE, the Education Secretary said the Government has asked Public Health England to work directly with unions.“Their safety is absolutely paramount as it is for children and we have issued guidance,” Mr Williamson said.

17:06Sarah Hodgson

UK deaths

Asked about the UK’s death rate compared with other European countries, Dr Harries said: “Counting deaths, I know it’s a sad thing to talk about and it’s had a lot of focus in the media recently, but actually probably the most useful statistic going forward to compare between countries would be what we call an all-cause mortality.“So it’s actually looking to say what is the difference between now when we’ve had a pandemic, regardless of what the individual has died from, and what we have had in previous years at the same season and with an age adjustment for that population.“All of those different things will vary between different countries.“It’s very difficult to draw direct comparisons, it’s not an excuse, it’s a fact, it’s an observation.“If we don’t do it very carefully we will go off into patterns of exploration which actually don’t give us the answers we need to manage either this pandemic or similar disease occurrences in the future.”

17:06Sarah Hodgson

Medical expert refuses to say if UK has 'passed the peak' of the virus

Dr Harries declined to say whether the UK had “passed the peak” of the virus.She said: “I would be very tempted to offer a comment on that today but I’m not going to be, for a number of reasons.”She identified that the low number of deaths recorded today was “positive” but cautioned against reading too much into the figures, which are often retrospectively revised.She said: “We could jump to all sorts of positive conclusions about that, but we shouldn’t.“I do think it is fair to say that we do know from the hospital data that we are starting to plateau across.”But she added: “If we don’t keep doing the social distancing, we will create a second peak and we definitely won’t be past it, so this is no reason to consider that we have managed this.“But I do think things look to be heading in the right direction.”

16:59Sarah Hodgson

No plans to have schools open over summer

Mr Williamson was asked about schools being open over the summer and whether he thinks social distancing is feasible in schools, and he replied: “I think we recognise the challenges that anyone who’s a parent of trying to instil social distancing in small children, and we have to understand really that sort of broad context.

“We are in a stage in terms of dealing with this pandemic where there are an awful lot of questions that sadly, people would love to have answers to, but in terms of how the virus develops we have to see that.

“There are currently no plans to have schools open over the summer period and we haven’t been working on plans to have them open over the summer period.”

On measures taken in schools in other European countries to get them to open sooner like reducing class sizes, Mr Williamson said: “Are we looking at other countries and learning from them? Absolutely. “And we’re seeing a few examples of countries opening up their schooling system and we’ll look closely as to how that works, how that goes, and what lessons can be learnt from it so we can benefit from that.”

16:50Sarah Hodgson

PPE must be used carefully

Asked if she would be comfortable treating Covid-19 patients by re-using single-use PPE, Dr Harries said: “If I happened to be working on the frontline today I have a responsibility to look after patients to the best of my ability, to protect my colleagues and my staff and to manage my practice safely.“All of those in the current climate will mean that I need to understand the agreed guidance on PPE .. and to implement that whenever I can.”She said it was “very easy to make a throwaway comment about single-use PPE” but the situation was “actually quite complex”.Dr Harries added: “It is the fact we are in a global shortage ... we all need to use this PPE carefully.“Some sessional use is entirely appropriate. For example wearing a gown for sessional use with a disposable plastic apron on top of it is an entirely appropriate use of PPE.“In that example you can see there is one element of what some people may call re-use and one element of what some may call single use.”

16:49Sarah Hodgson

Supply of gowns to NHS

On PPE, Jenny Harries said: “I think we have had, if I might say from my own professional perspective, we could perhaps have a more adult, and more detailed conversation about PPE supplies.“For example, quite rightly, the conversation at the moment is very much focused on gown supplies. Earlier, in earlier weeks, I’m very aware of consideration of eye-wear for example, in goggles and masks.“And I think it is important to remember that, although there may be elements of distribution problems across the UK at different times and in different places, this is a huge pull on services which we have never seen before.“And we have managed actually despite signalling many potential shortfalls to continue to supply going forward, and even as I stand here, I know with the gown position, for example, that even though when orders go in overseas, supplies may be very different what is received to what we think we’re going to get.“We have worked right across the UK to try and manage those supplies based predominantly and always on a risk mitigation method, so this is about whichever patient or whichever healthcare worker at highest risk across the UK requires those PPE.“And I think we perhaps need to, rather than lumping all of the PPE together, which is not a homogeneous mix at all, we just need to think carefully through what has been achieved and the challenges which are acknowledged ahead.”

16:40Sarah Hodgson

PM missed Cobra meetigs in early stages of coronavirus outbreak

Asked about the Prime Minister missing Cobra meetings, Mr Williamson said: “The Prime Minister from the moment that it became clear that there were challenges in terms of coronavirus developing in China has absolutely been leading our nation’s effort to combat the coronavirus, making sure that resources or money is not a concern for any department, especially the health service.”He added that “many Cobra meetings” are led by the departmental minister.He said: “The focus the Prime Minister was putting on this and has continued to put on this has meant that this is the whole Government effort.”

16:39Sarah Hodgson

Firms offering to make PPE will be contacted

When asked why the Government has not responded to manufacturers who are willing to produce PPE, Mr Williamson said they will be contacted in the next 24 hours.He said a billion extra PPE have been brought into the country while the Government was doing “immense work” in trying to find British suppliers.He encouraged those suppliers who have been in contact with the Government and have “slipped through the net” to get in touch again.He said the Government will ensure they are contacted “in the next 24 hours”.He added: “We recognise this is a national endeavour and we are so incredibly grateful for so many people who are willing to step forward to make a real difference, and we certainly don’t want to miss out on those opportunities.”

16:31Sarah Hodgson

Stocks of PPE

Mr Williamson was asked about stocks of PPE and why more was not done to get hold of more PPE in March and February.“What we’ve seen over the last few months is an enormous effort, it’s a national effort, but it’s also an international effort to secure PPE from right around the globe, but we’ve seen so many brilliant British businesses repurpose themselves in order to be able to provide it.“And we’ve seen many educational settings also being able to do it.“But you know, the government, from the first moment that we were in a situation where the scientific advice was highlighting to us that we were facing a real challenge in terms of coronavirus, and this could potentially evolve into a pandemic, every resource of government has been deployed to not just expanding what we need in terms of PPE, but also ventilators, and we’ve seen a massive growth in the number of ventilators that we have available in our hospitals.“And keep adding and building to the stock of what we’ve got.”

16:31Sarah Hodgson

Apology to schoolchildren

In a direct address to the nation’s school children, Mr Williamson said: “To any young people watching, I wanted to say to you how sorry I am that you’ve had your education disrupted in this way.“I know how hard it must be, and I’d like to thank you for making the adjustments that you’ve had to make.“I know you will be missing your friends, your teachers, your lessons.“I want you to know that you are such an important part of this fight too, and I cannot thank you enough for all that you are doing.”

16:25Sarah Hodgson

Academy to launch online tomorrow with video lessons

Mr Williamson said: “We’re also working with major telecommunications providers to exempt certain educational resources from data charges, so that this does not add to household expenses that might be very stretched at this moment.”

Mr Williamson said: “We’ve already published an initial list of high-quality online educational resources including how to support the physical and mental well-being and materials for teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities.“Some of our leading state schools have collaborated to open the Oak National Academy, which will be launched online tomorrow.“This is a totally new initiative led by 40 brilliant teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so.“180 video lessons will be provided each week across a broad range of subjects for every year group from reception through to year 10.”

16:24Sarah Hodgson

Extra £1.6m given to Childline and NSPCC

Mr Williamson described young people who have left care, or are about to, as “really vulnerable”.He asked local authorities “to ensure no one has to leave care during this difficult time”.Mr Williamson said a further £1.6 million has been given to Childline and NSPCC to help children and adults who are seeking advice.